Wednesday, 21 December 2011

The return of All the Lonely People

It’s now over 20 years since Harry Devlin made his debut, when my first book, All the Lonely People, was originally published. It was a marvellous experience for me, becoming a published novelist at long last, and not surprisingly I have very fond memories, not only of the book but of that whole period in my life.

The book was published in paperback by Bantam, a division of Transworld. When the Devlin series was acquired a few years later by Hodder, a new paperback edition was produced. Sadly, though, this edition has been out of print for quite a while.

This is a common problem for authors – unless they are best-sellers. One’s early books are no longer available in current editions, so it's hard for readers to track down those books. However, I am very happy to say that All the Lonely People will next year enjoy its third incarnation in a paperback edition.

This is because those enterprising publishers Arcturus have decided to include the book in their Crime Classics series. Given that other authors featured include Anthony Berkeley, whom I admire so much, and the likes of Francis Durbridge and Ethel Lina (The Lady Vanishes) White, I am flattered, as well as delighted. I’m fortunate indeed to have a book which has been paperbacked by three different publishers, and All the Lonely People has certainly been a very lucky book for me.

Congratulations, Martin! And well deserved recognition - I was able to pick up a secondhand copy and it made me keen to collect all the Devlin series: that's a considerable achievement for a first book :)

I have read it!! Usually, I have not read whatever book you post on. Fantastic that this book has brought you luck ... may it continue to do so. I enjoyed the characters in this one ( besides the detection and suspense, of course).

Martin, what great news to round off the year! You must be over the moon. But, having produced crime fiction of such ingenuity, charm and humour for a couple of decades now, you’re long overdue a breakthrough, and how fitting it would be if this were led through the re-issue of your debut novel, ‘All the Lonely People’, as an Arcturus Crime Classic. And it could happen – yes, it could – because with your wisecracking Liverpool lawyer Harry Devlin, it’s surely a case of once met, never forgotten. And who could resist that splendidly ‘noir’ cover with turned up collar and cupped flame?

Certainly this is another one for my GTB (Get That Book!) list for next year. And I hope your lucky first novel really cracks open the market for you.

About Me

I am a British crime writer, and the author of eighteen crime novels, including series set in Liverpool and the Lake District, as well as winner of the CWA Short Story Dagger and CWA Margery Allingham Prize'. My latest book is The Golden Age of Murder, a ground-breaking study of the genre between the wars, and I am consultant for the British Library's Classic Crime series, as well as archivist to both the CWA and the Detection Club. I have edited twenty-four anthologies, published about sixty short stories, and written seven other non-fiction books..